Man weeps and begs judge not to send him to prison

Geoff has been working for the QT since August 2011 covering Ipswich’s rural areas. He started working for APN in January 2010 with the Chinchilla News in western Queensland after growing up on a grain farm. Geoff spends his time out of work watching far too much sport following the Reds, the Broncos and various American teams.

Atkinson, who pleaded not guilty, admitted to punching and knocking Scott down, but said he had retaliated after Scott hit him first and denied kicking or stomping on him. In a recorded police interview Atkinson told police he "freaked out" and fled the scene when he saw Scott lying in the gutter bleeding, telling them he thought he'd killed him.

Crown prosecutor Matthew Le Grand told the jury that would not constitute a defence as, if true, Atkinson had retaliated in a disproportionate manner. After deliberating for around four hours and being reread Ms Mann's testimony, the jury returned its guilty verdict.

Judge Sarah Bradley ordered the sentence be adjourned until August 28 for a pre-sentence report to be completed. Atkinson applied for release on bail until the sentence date.

Atkinson sat in the dock in tears, begging Judge Bradley to grant him bail.

However, she said with Atkinson facing a period of imprisonment his bail was refused and he was remanded in custody.